Review by Booklist Review
Thankfully, despite the efforts of such self-appointed gatekeepers as Strunk and White, and Lynn Truss, the rules of the English language just move by their own power to communicate. So argues recovering pedant Kamm, grammar columnist for the London Times. He passes no judgment on incorrect English but argues instead, Standard English is more useful than any non-Standard variety because it can be used in more contexts. That is more like saying that it's more useful to know English around the world than it is to know Welsh, Danish or Dutch. To this end, following a somewhat long-winded though well-argued introduction, he delivers a 166-page glossary of usages, such as dangling modifiers (OK, but not if one must read them twice for understanding), farther and further (Kamm ignores the distinction), and none (use as singular or plural, whatever sounds natural, he says). An engaging and sympathetic style guide.--Moores, Alan Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Kamm, an award-winning UK Times columnist, has written a much-needed book that challenges those who want to entomb English, a living language that is in no danger of being destroyed or corrupted by occasional grammatical missteps. The author's tolerance of and even welcoming misuse of grammatical conventions may seem subversive at first. Yet, especially refreshing is Kamm's appreciation of the organically evolving American English, which adds a sense of exuberance to our "living language." The cliché that the United States and the UK are "divided by a common language" is reinterpreted as the strength of a cross-fertilization of differing dialects of the same language. VERDICT With many practical examples of valid "misuses" of commonly used words and phrases, this highly recommended work will be a valuable addition to collections on usage and a readable account for general audiences who take joy in affirming their own contributions to our ever evolving language.-Herbert E. Shapiro, Lifelong Learning Soc., Florida Atlantic Univ., Boca Raton © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
